The hulking 21-year-old was given five games to show his wares in 2020, and following an impressive start and a strong pre-season, will line up against Sydney at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Standing just metres away from him will be Harris Andrews, the dual All Australian and fellow Lions Academy product.
Andrews is just three years Payne's senior, but has 113 games and two All Australian blazers to his name.
"Harris has been awesome for me," Payne told AFL.com.au.
"When he was out (injured) for the last three rounds of last year he sat down with me and watched vision with me. He's been great for me.
"I feel like the more games we play together the better our connection will be going forward.
"He's a great person to look up to and I aspire to be like him."
The pair have played just two matches together – Payne's debut against Richmond and the preliminary final against Geelong. Both were losses.
In between, the boy from the Sunshine Coast replaced Andrews after the star fullback tore his hamstring against Collingwood, impressing with his ability to defend power forwards and intercept mark when the chance arose.
Payne was so good in fact, that when Darcy Gardiner injured his knee just days before taking on the Cats in the penultimate match of the season, Chris Fagan called his name.
"I found out quite late," he said
"It was a few hours before the game Fages gave me the call.
"I'm actually glad it worked out that way, because if I found out a couple of days early I would have been playing the game over in my head.
"Fages just said "back yourself and play your role" and that's all he expected. It was disappointing we lost but I took a lot of confidence away."
Payne starts the season as the second key defender, and even when Gardiner returns from injury, should get plenty of opportunities in the top team.
"I came down to Brisbane quite a few times during the off-season with guys like Harris and Joey (Daniher) and did a lot of running training with them.
"The motivation is definitely there to cement a spot."
